Utopia Has Fallen
by RenkonNairu
Summary: -Oneshot- Ten steps to a dystopia. Or, seven steps to total dictator ship and three steps to rebellion. Implied Wildhopps.


Disclaimer: I do not own Zootopia or its related characters. All is the property of Walt Disney Animation Studios, Clark Spencer, and Byron Howard. I'm just borrowing them for some non-profit entertainment.

Utopia Has Fallen

1\. The heroic officer Hopps hit the city, and hit it hard. Before her, no other Savage attack had resulted in death. Injury, yes. Trauma, yes. But death -no. The hero that initially cracked the case of the Missing Mammals, the first bunny to become an officer of the ZPD... also became the first fatality of the Savage Attacks. On the heels of her martyrdom, Mayor Bellwether proposed the 'Taming Initiative'.

2\. While the announcement of Hopps' death hit the city hard, none were affected more than her family -her parents especially. Bonnie and Stu Hopps were devastated by the loss of their daughter. But, as if it weren't enough to have lost one of their children, the loss was made all the worse by the fact that no body could be returned to them. "Ripped to shreds" they were told. "Nothing left to be buried." No body was carried from the scene.

3\. The old saying went 'No body, No Crime'. There was no body. No body was carried from the scene save the muzzled and snarling body of the creature that had formerly called itself Nickolas Wilde. But no because said body had been ripped to shreds by the rabid predator. No. Because adrenaline was a wonderful thing and Officer Judy Hopps was more than just a trier. She was a survivor. As the fox had been baring down on her, jowls dripping with saliva, lips pulled back to display intimidatingly sharp teeth, she pulled all of her reserve strength together and focussed it into one powerful rabbit-kick to the side of the jaw. The fox bit his tongue and was stunned for a moment. But the moment was all Hopps needed to kick open a maintenance grate and shimmy away into obscurity. Now anonymous. But alive.

4\. The 'Taming Initiative' faced powerful opposition from liberal voters and citizens. But none were more vocal or held more influence and sway than popular pop-music sensation Gazelle. She active and passionate about returning Zootopia to the peace-loving utopian metropolis it had once been, organizing peace rallies, composing songs about love, trust, and pulling together at one community. After all, are we not all Mammals? She even traded in her flashy costumes for a modest pants-suit, and pulled back her hair to speak at a hearing to determine whether or not the 'Taming Initiative' violated the most basic of Mammal Rights, and if the Savages could even be considered Mammals (capital M) anymore.

5\. As more and more predators fell victim to Savagery, more and more Mammals began to speculate as to the cause of it. Yes, there was clearly a biological component. But organisms didn't just suddenly and inexplicably revert back to the behaviors of their _ancient_ evolutionary ancestors without cause. There must be a trigger, or a catalyst. A virus was one such suggestion. Only -with the exception of Emmitt Otterton and Renato Manchas- those affected didn't have any contact with one another prior to exhibiting symptoms. Yax, a representative of the popular naturalist club, Mystic Springs Oasis, suggested that the regression into primitive Savagery was a result of modern city life. "We're, like, always surrounded by technology and stuff, man... We're, like, cut off from Mother Nature and it, like, totally stresses your system. Dude can only take so much before something breaks, man." Yet, still other suggested poisons, mind altering drugs, or toxins in the environment. Concerned by this last theory, Mayor Bellwether called for the city's water supply to be tested immediately -all tests came back negative.

6\. Jumping on the trigger or catalyst band wagon, pop star Gazelle announced that a large percentage of profits from her next concert would be donated to Savage Research. For a moment, the outlook was positive. The stadium was packed, tickets having sold in record numbers. Gazelle would be cutting a sizable check to Research. But tragedy struck at the concert. One of her four tiger go-go dancers suddenly stopped mid-performance, one hand going to his neck at the back of the head. He staggered for several moments as if drunk ...and then attacked. The other three tigers protected Gazelle, placing themselves between her and the suddenly and inexplicably Savage predator. One of them was killed, mauled to death by his former dance partner. Gazelle survived, but was rushed to Zootopia general in critical condition. People speculated whether or not this incident might change her opinion of the Savage Crisis. But whether it did or not, it was a moot point. If she ever woke up, she would be to busy with physical therapy and recovery to speak on the issue publicly.

7\. As a result of the attack that became known as the Concert Tragedy, Mayor Bellwether's proposed Taming Initiative was passed into law. Now, all predators within the city -whether residents or visitors- must wear inhibitor collars to control their aggressive impulses. Any time a wearer become excitable or highly emotional a warning light would appear (yellow). If the wearer's excitable state continued to escalate, the warning light would flash red and administer a small electric shock. The socks would continue -climbing in intensity- until the wearer calmed down under their own power, or were pacified.

8\. The Initiative might have passed, but that didn't mean it wasn't still opposed. None opposed the Initiative more than an anonymous rabbit -a prey of all Mammals!- who went simply by the pseudonym 'Carrots'. Carrots might have opposed the Initiative with a passion that could only be described as fanatic, but she was still only one, and was quickly labeled an anarchist. Warrants were issued for her arrest.

9\. Then something unexpected happened. Some of the Savage predators began to exhibit brief periods of lucidity. Not all of them, mind you. Some of the Savage predators were to far gone. But about 3% of those affected began to "shake off" the symptoms -almost as if their bodies were cleansing their systems of toxins or impurities. One such Savage was a red fox, formerly Nickolas Wilde. He used to be wild by nature. But for brief periods every day, he was Wilde by name again, and he always asked the same question. He didn't ask about the collar around his neck or why he was confined to a solitary room in a sanitarium. All he asked was, "What happened to Hopps?"

10\. The moment the radical anarchist known only as 'Carrots' heard about some of the Savages returning to themselves, she organized a prison break. One predator was shot during the escape and later died of his wounds. But Carrots managed to get away with four others -mostly- unharmed. Among them was, Emmitt Otterton (species: otter), Rodrigo Colmillo (species: Bengal tiger), Renato Manchas (species: black jaguar), and Nickolas Wilde (species: red fox).


End file.
